Ambiguous Wide Receiver Rooms and Players To Target In Them || Fantasy Football 2026

Summary

Footballguys Fantasy Football Show – April 10, 2026

Episode: Ambiguous Wide Receiver Rooms and Players To Target In Them
Hosts: Dave Kluge & Jeff Bell

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the most ambiguous wide receiver situations heading into the 2026 fantasy football season. Dave and Jeff, blending analysis and playful banter, break down which receivers are most likely to emerge from crowded or uncertain depth charts and which are best left for your leaguemates. The goal: find the league-winners where others see only question marks.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Chicago Bears: Luther Burden vs. Roma Dunze ([01:10])

• Jeff's Take:

  • "It's hard to see Roma Dunze being the primary option at any level. Luther Burden fits that Amon-Ra St. Brown role really, really, really well." ([01:44])
  • Burden projects as the top fantasy asset due to his fit in Ben Johnson’s offense—prioritizing separation and YAC over contested catches.
  • Roma Dunze, despite talent, is pigeonholed into a boundary/X receiver role, which hasn’t had fantasy prominence in Johnson's schemes.

• Dave's Take:

  • Emphasizes Johnson’s own quote: “I’m not a big guy on 50/50 balls… we like to get guys open more than just throwing it up for grabs.” ([03:03])
  • Luther Burden’s second-year upside is “wheels up” given his efficiency and the offense’s fit.
  • Entertains a fantasy hypothetical: swapping Dunze and Brian Thomas Jr. to better fit their respective offensive systems.

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2. Arizona Cardinals: Marvin Harrison Jr. vs. Michael Wilson ([06:45])

• Jeff’s Perspective:

  • Michael Wilson is coming off a stellar year, especially when Harrison was out. The new regime and QB situation adds uncertainty.
  • "The risk is low with Wilson given his price, and while Harrison has star upside, value will depend on ADP shifts closer to the season." ([07:20])

• Dave’s Input:

  • Surprised by Harrison’s slide in redraft mocks (late 7th round).
  • "Michael Wilson...still has not really moved up all that much. I think a lot of people are just looking at that and saying small sample size late in the year is fluky." ([08:24])
  • Anticipates that as draft season heats up, Harrison's price will rise due to name value and past hype, while Wilson remains a value.

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3. Green Bay Packers: Jaden Reed vs. Matthew Golden ([10:24])

• Dave’s Lean:

  • Prefers Reed, citing Golden’s rough rookie season as a historical outlier for future breakout potential.
  • "When you see a player that bad their rookie season, their chance of taking off is just very, very slim." ([13:48])

• Jeff’s Defense of Golden:

  • Notes Golden’s versatility—used in multiple roles due to injuries, and likens his progression to JSN and Davante Adams, both slow-starting wideouts who eventually broke out.
  • "He was the talk of Packers camp...his ability to fill in multiple roles." ([11:08])
  • Acknowledges the long-shot, but asserts there’s room to gamble on Golden’s development.

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4. Los Angeles Chargers: Quentin Johnston vs. Trey Harris ([15:13])

• Dave’s Assessment:

  • Based on last year’s growth and likely increased role (with Keenan Allen out), he’s back in on Quentin Johnston but not ready to “extinguish the candle” for Tre Harris.

• Jeff’s View:

  • Points out that Harris' edge is blocking, but Johnston’s on-field play and athletic profile keep him in the lead, despite some disappointing stretches last year.
  • "Calling Quentin Johnston a bust even though he was the wide receiver 27 last year… he checked every box you’re looking for.” ([16:08])
  • Stresses Johnston’s talent and opportunity in the new Mike McDaniel offense.

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5. Denver Broncos: Jalen Waddle vs. Courtland Sutton ([17:52])

• Situation: Jalen Waddle arrives as Sutton ages.

• Jeff’s Take:

  • Whoever is cheapest is the best value, as both could have solid seasons.
  • "There’s certainly a wide receiver 1 value work share available for Waddle… Sutton could replicate last year’s line (74/1000/7) while Waddle could be the new lead.” ([18:48])

• Dave’s Take:

  • Prefers Waddle for upside, citing his versatility and proven production as both WR1 and WR2 in different offenses.
  • Sutton’s ADP (falling to round 7 in mocks) makes him a value pick.
  • "Waddle as the primary or secondary target… has been good for fantasy football.” ([20:20])

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6. Seattle Seahawks: Rashid Shaheed vs. Torrey Horton ([21:35])

• Dave’s Insight:

  • Shaheed just re-signed on a multi-year deal and likely has the edge. Horton’s appeal is mostly for dynasty stashes, given continued injury concerns.

• Jeff’s Take:

  • Shaheed brings more versatility and special teams value; Horton more of a pure vertical threat.
  • “Shahid… can be the deep receiver, can be the guy that they get the ball in his hands on screens… Horton’s more dedicated to being that vertical threat.” ([22:42])
  • Still, it’s very much the “Jackson Smith-Njigba show.”

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7. New England Patriots: Romeo Doubs vs. Kayshon Boutte ([24:26])

• Dave:

  • Cautious on projecting any true WR1 in this Patriots offense with McDaniels and Vrabel’s influence.
  • Doubs' contract is very “WR2” money, not a “featured guy” type deal.

• Jeff:

  • Prefers Boutte for value, noting Doubs is reliable but unlikely to be a fantasy difference-maker.
  • “Profiling Romeo Doubs as the number one for the Patriots feels like a massive stretch to me.” ([25:54])

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8. Las Vegas Raiders: Jack Bech, Trey Tucker, Jalen Nailor vs. the Field ([28:16])

• Both Hosts:
  • Underwhelmed by this depth chart—Brock Bowers is the only true fantasy target for now.
  • Jack Bech and Trey Tucker are “dollar store” versions of stars in the Clint Kubiak offense.
  • “Brock Bowers as the tight end version of Jackson Smith-Njigba in that scheme is kind of where I think that I land.” – Jeff ([28:16])
  • Dave predicts Raiders use early draft capital for a legit WR, making this discussion likely moot by training camp.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Bears’ WR Room Fit:
  “Luther Burden fits that Amon-Ra St. Brown role really, really, really well.” – Jeff ([01:44])

• Ben Johnson’s Scheme Philosophy:
  “I'm not a big guy on 50/50 balls… we like to get guys open more than just throwing it up for grabs.” – Dave quoting Johnson ([03:03])

• Marvin Harrison Jr. Fantasy Slide:
  “Marvin Harrison Jr... go 7.06… Michael Wilson was a 10th or 12th round pick last year and you still got him in the 8th at the 8/9 turn this year.” – Dave ([08:24])

• On Matthew Golden:
  “He was the talk of Packers camp…his ability to fill in multiple roles.” – Jeff ([11:08])

• Re: Quentin Johnston “Bust” Narrative:
  “Still calling Quentin Johnson a bust even though he was the wide receiver 27 last year…he checked every box you’re looking for.” – Jeff ([16:08])

• Jalen Waddle’s Versatility:
  “Whether he is the primary target or the secondary target, he has been good in fantasy football.” – Dave ([20:20])

• On the New England WR Room:
  “Profiling Romeo Doubs as the number one for the Patriots feels like a massive stretch to me.” – Jeff ([25:54])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Chicago Bears WR Room: 01:10 – 05:23
• Cardinals: Harrison Jr. vs. Wilson: 06:45 – 09:25
• Packers: Reed vs. Golden: 10:24 – 15:13
• Chargers: Johnston vs. Harris: 15:13 – 17:52
• Broncos: Waddle vs. Sutton: 17:52 – 21:21
• Seahawks: Shaheed vs. Horton: 21:35 – 24:26
• Patriots: Doubs vs. Boutte: 24:26 – 27:00
• Raiders: The Mystery Box: 28:16 – 29:57

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Episode Tone & Style

Throughout, the hosts combine sharp analysis with candid, friendly back-and-forth and a few playful jabs at each other’s fandoms and fantasy hot takes. They go in-depth on player usage, offensive schemes, and dynasty implications.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode is for fantasy managers who thrive in the gray areas—where depth charts are muddy, rookies are unproven, and breakout candidates are hiding in plain sight. The Footballguys crew shows how contextual knowledge (coaching, contracts, usage) should influence your WR room bets. Expect value to shift after the NFL Draft, but sharp drafters should take notes now—these are the ambiguous receiver situations that might decide your league’s title.

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If you missed the episode, this summary gives you all the key info you need to dominate ambiguous WR rooms in 2026 drafts.

Transcript

[Jeff Bell]

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[Dave]

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[Jeff Bell]

So enjoy this 14 second session on us. I think you've done everything right and absolutely nothing wrong.

[Dave]

In fact, anything that hasn't gone your way could probably be blamed on your father not being emotionally available because his father wasn't emotionally available and so on. And now that you're calm and healing,

[Jeff Bell]

you're probably driving better too.

[Dave]

Gone are the days of every NFL team having multiple fantasy relevant wide receivers because the league is getting more consolidated. It makes it even more important than ever that you draft the right right wide receiver on every team and not leave those fantasy wins on the table. Last week Jeff Bell and I talked about some ambiguous running back rooms. Today we're going to discuss some ambiguous wide receiver rooms. Jeff, the first one I think everybody wants to hear about the Chicago Bears, Roma Dunz or Luther Burden. Who do you think is the wide receiver that's going to emerge as the top dog in Chicago this year?

[Jeff Bell]

Yeah, I really struggle to even call this one an ambiguous room. I think it's going to be Luther Burden. I think that when you look at Ben Johnson's offense, what he really wants to build out of that offense, it's on some level it's hard to see the fit for Roma Dun in that offense. Or it's hard to see outside of the strong start last year that was really touchdown dependent prior to the injuries. It's hard to see Roma Dun being the primary option at any level. And I'm just thinking traditionally if you're looking at roles, I mean Luther Burden fits that Amon Ross St. Brown role really, really, really well. And then the there's not really Jameson Williams of the bench. I mean you can try to pigeonhole and shoehorn Roman Dunes, but the reality is the Roman Dunes, they fits the Tim Patrick role better than the Jameson Williams type of a role. And so it's obviously we know that Roman Dunes was on the team when Ben Johnson took the job and then Ben Johnson immediately went out and added Colson Lovell and added Luther Burden. And so I think it's easily Luther Burden that I won. And maybe we're waiting to see. Maybe Rowan Dunes A gets healthy, maybe he gets back to that early season. But he does seem like a player. That confidence might be a little bit of a rough shot there. Whereas Luther Burden has to be coming into the season sky high given the way he finished last year.

[Dave]

I'm a Bears fan, so of course I'm going to have some bias here, but also a little bit more insight because I pay very close attention to the Bears and there's a few things that I pulled here. I know funny enough, I opened up the running back show with a quote from from the head coach. Well, I got a quote from Ben Johnson here. All right. Roma Dunes a not the best separator. He is a contested catch specialist. Like that's what he did at Washington. He would just leap out of the arena, come down with these contested balls and that's what he was drafted for. I got a quote from Ben Johnson. I'm not a big guy on 5050 balls. You can look at my track record of calling games. We like to get guys open more than just throwing it up for grabs. That's not what we want to be about. That to me is a pretty big indictment on Roman Dunes. And then you talk about it like Amanra St. Brown, great separator. That's what Luther Burton does. Like Ben Johnson's entire offense is predicated around getting these guys open in space where they can catch the ball and create after the catch. And when you look at these big bodied X receivers was. Was Tim Patrick the one that you called out, Jeff?

[Jeff Bell]

Yeah.

[Dave]

You know the other X receivers that we've seen in Ben Johnson offense Historically, D.J. chark, Alan Robinson, Josh Reynolds and yes, Roman Dunes A is objectively a better wide receiver than all of those guys. But I do have this fear that like Roman Dunes role is going to be getting pinned to the boundary right in the rail and just opening them up underneath stuff for Colson Loveland and Luther Burden. So I'm completely with you here. I can go on and on about the rookie season efficiency like Luther Burden, third in the league in yards per route run behind Jackson Smith, Najigba and Puka Nakua. We saw him flashing in a small sample and that was well dealing with injuries through preseason. A healthy Luther Burden coming in year two wheels up.

[Jeff Bell]

Modest proposal here. Dave, you're the the Bears fan obviously Roma dunes a for Brian Thomas Jr. They can send Roma dunes a down to Jacksonville and allow Roma dunes they to be kind of in the Mike Evans role of that that Liam Cohen offense and then you can have Brian Thomas Jr. Speed profile as the Jameson Williams type role. So I don't know If Brian Thomas Jr. Is exactly the technician or the person that is in the right spot at the right time that Ben Johnson would be looking for. But that to me I feel like you kind of profile players into maybe more comfortable roles and better fantasy roles potentially for both of them and both

[Dave]

of Brian Thomas Jr. Was drafted before Liam Cohen came to Jacksonville. Roma Dunze was drafted before Ben Johnson came to Chicago. So both kind of baggage from the previous regimes. I don't Baggage was a terrible term. Like I'm talking about these guys like they're slouches. Like these are first round picks who are good like Roma dude is a good NFL wide receiver. I just look at how wide receivers are utilized in Ben Johnson's offense. I do like that trade though. I think that would make sense for both parties. But we've got more ambiguous wide receiver rooms to discuss. Before we do that though, give us a like a subscribe and a comment on YouTube. We're doing our best to grow this channel here and you, the audience can help us out by just leave it. A quick comment, let us know what you think about the show. Ask us questions. We'll do our best to respond to every single one. And then of course, if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, we would love if you can leave a review. We've seen some coming in lately. The more the better. Let us know what you think about the show. We love all of the feedback. It is a gift now. Jeff, this is crazy man. I can't believe we're even going here. This would have been a ludicrous talking point this time a year ago, even four months ago. Marvin Harrison Jr. Or Michael Wilson. We just did a mock draft over here at Football Guys where they were drafted very closely to each other. Are we looking at a potential situation where Michael Wilson has usurped the alpha role from Marvin Harrison Jr.

[Jeff Bell]

I mean, it's really hard to deny the production that Michael Wilson had last year. Now we do know that new coaching staff is coming in, so that kind of potentially shades some things. And a lot of that production from Michael Wilson came when Marvin Harrison Jr. Was out of the lineup. When Marvin Harrison Jr. Returned to lineup, Michael Wilson disappeared relative to especially relative to what he was Producing previously. Right now it looks like it's going to be Jacoby Brissette back as quarterback. Great connection last year with Michael Wilson. I know that mock that you're referencing. I got Michael Wilson, I want to say it was the eighth round or so and I've been able to check

[Dave]

out the episode half around after Marvin

[Jeff Bell]

Harrison for I definitely liked the value where I got Michael Wilson in that draft relative to what we saw for glimpses of the because getting him that late in that draft that we did and that was a sharp room that was all football guys, staffers and our favorites are our good friends around. And so getting him that late in that draft, given the relative upside what we saw and win those last year, it really takes a lot of the risk out of having Michael Wilson. And so I think that that's factoring into it a little bit. When you look at the evaluation of what's the risk on Michael Wilson, what's the price of acquisition on Michael Wilson relative to Marvin Harrison Jr. The risk there and even can make the argument that the risk has been taken out for Marvin Harrison Jr. As well at this point given that he still has the potential upside to be a top 10 fantasy wide receiver. But I think in this one while I feel like there was a clear way to lean with the Bears, it kind of starts to be a little bit of I think it's worthwhile exploring either of them in your league and seeing where the value might come down.

[Dave]

And you know we did talk about the just how far there there were two guys that really surprised me with where they fell and it was Marvin Harrison Jr. And Brian Thomas Jr. Because so often like fantasy managers hold on to hope for these highly drafted first round picks even if they get out the gates a little bit slow and did not hear and this was a room of sharp drafters like all football guy staffers. And granted this is not a dynasty startup, this was a redraft league. But we saw Marvin Harrison Jr. Go 706 and we saw Brian Thomas Jr. Go 808. Like these guys were both consensus second and third round picks last year. Brian Thomas Jr. Was creeping up into round one in a lot of drafts. Then you talk about the value on Michael Wilson. He was a 10th or 12th round pick last year and you still got him in the 8th at the 89 term this year. Like this guy's coming off a top 10 season and still has not really moved up all that much. I think a lot of people are just looking at that and saying small sample size Late in the year it's fluky and just not really taking into account just how good Michael Wilson was last season.

[Jeff Bell]

I do want to say that we did that draft in March and so two, two months are more or less removed from the end of last season. From what I've traditionally seen when it comes to drafts is when you're early in the off season or close to the other season, the, what we just saw holds a lot of sway. When we get into July and August when most are going to be drafting, I think that you start see the. Well, it's still Marvin Harrison Jr. And he kind of moves up from being in that seventh, eighth round into being more of that fourth, fifth round territory of, of people saying, I mean it's still Marvin Harrison Jr. I was drafting him in the first round two years ago. I'll still make that bet there. I think that you start to see those things rise up as we get into the summer when a lot of the drafts will go on. Relative to when we do these early mock drafts or early drafts the last season, what we have sharpest in our mind holds a little bit more sway.

[Dave]

Talk about the next situation we want to discuss here, Jeff. The Green Bay Packers Matthew golden or Jaden Reed? We saw Matthew Golden. Not good. I had J.J. zachary on the show a couple of weeks ago. We talked about his year two breakout model and we talked about like players to target based on his year two breakout model. Of course, Luther Burton was one of those guys and I said, can you inversely use that model to look at guys to avoid? And he said Matthew golden, if he were to do anything at this point in his career, he would be an outlier. I mean it was just a bad, bad rookie season and we saw Jaden Reed was injured, like the opportunity was there for Matthew Golden. Now with Jaden Reed, it Reed presumed to come back healthy. He's the guy that I prefer pretty easily to Matthew golden but. Curious to get your thoughts here, Jeff.

[Jeff Bell]

Yeah, I think you'll probably have a lot of comments, a lot of people watching this saying, I don't want either of them. I would rather have Christian Watson and Tucker Crafts. And so that's, that's one way to take it. I, I do think it's interesting that last year I looked a little bit at yards per outrun of players like when I was at the time, players that were at the top of fantasy scoring and you had Jackson Smith and Jigba, you had George Pickens, you had Alec Pierce, that they were really, really high in the metric high in fantasy scoring. But when you look at their rookie year, they were almost complete zeros. And I think a lot of the argument basically For Matthew Golden, 1, he looked pretty good in that playoff loss. They kind of came down to it too. He was on the field all year long and he ended up kind of in the role that the ball didn't go to. But I think that there's something to be said for players that the team still values being on the field and learning and having that ability to grow. And that's talking about Jason Smith and Jigba, the number one receiver in fantasy football last year was a player that was hardly involved as a rookie, but he did a lot of learning as a rookie on the same field as DK Metcalf and as Tyler Lockett was able take off. I think that you're the case for Matthew golden holds on to that playoff performance and says he was given opportunity to learn different roles. And I think that's the other part of Matthew golden is sometimes we see a player I know last off season we were talking about Xavier Worthy taking on different roles within an offense and Matthew golden took on different roles in the offense. It's just that the ball didn't go to either of the roles that he took on. He was kind of the chameleon that filled in the the gaps for the Packers. But seeing obviously seeing Romeo Dubs gone, having them not go out and make a significant acquisition to address that, you would profile Jaden Reed and Matthew golden to both be in the regular rotation with Christian Watson. And to me, maybe it is the specialty role in Jaden Reed and the fantasy production we've seen in the past from Jaden Reed that makes him the case there. But I think in many ways my argument last year when I was bullish on Matthew golden was his ability to fill in multiple roles. And we saw the very, very strong camp that he had last summer. He was, he was the talk of packers camp. And so I think that the case for Matthew golden basically says he learned a multitude of roles the ball wasn't going to him. He's showcased that he can be a playmaker at the NFL level in glimpses and maybe the ball starts going to him in those roles. But I don't blame you for on being on stance on strong on Jaden Reed. But I'm. I will go down with the ship and I think that Matthew golden there's still potential worth buying there and the versatility.

[Dave]

I'm glad you called that out. First of all, I want to say too, you talk about the Jackson Smith Najigba slow start to his career. In his rookie season he had a broken wrist that he didn't play at all in the preseason or in training camp. He had DK Metcalf and Tyler locked ahead of him and still had twice as many yards as a rookie than Matthew Golden. So I don't know if that's a, a direct one to one comp. But yeah, I do remember like Matthew Olden was playing different roles. I, I want to say like his average target in his second game of the season was like 40 something yards or something like that. Like he was just a deep threat through the first month of the season and then he started getting these underneath gadgety routes and then he became a deep threat again and then went back to the short underneath stuff. So they were using him kind of all over because there were a lot of injuries. You know, Christian Watson missed the beginning of the year and that's why he was that deep threat. And then when Jaden Reed got hurt, they had to put him kind of in that Jaden Reed role. So the versatility there absolutely is worth noting. You know, again, it's a game of probability that we play here and my fear is just felt like when you see a player that bad their rookie season, their chance of taking off from there is just very, very slim. I think there could be something here, but I think like the, the one that you could point to that had a bad rookie season and then turn it around. Another Green Bay Packer, Devonte Adams.

[Jeff Bell]

Well, and Matthew golden was dealing with some injuries last year too. So if we're going to say Jackson, Smith and Jigba had some injuries, Matthew golden did have some injuries as well. So.

[Dave]

All right, all right, well, let's move on. Talk about one more before we take our break here. Quentin Johnston and Trey Harris, these guys, I don't want to say the same players but like at least somewhat similar skill sets. They are big bodied, physical receivers, contested catch yards after the catch, all that sort of fun stuff here. Now we're looking at a new offensive coordinator, Keenan Allen likely out of the picture. That was kind of the problem last year with Keenan Allen, Lad McConkey, Quentin Johnson, Trey Harris couldn't get on the field all that much. When he did, he looked like a pretty reliable red zone threat. But now I think with Keenan Allen out of the picture, we can see him on the field in three wide receiver sets, hopefully grow that skill set a little bit. This is one that I think is going to surprise a lot of people because it's different from my take last year. I do prefer Quinton Johnston after what I saw from him last season, but I'm also not willing to extinguish the candle for Trey Harris. I'm still holding on to hope for both of these guys, but I do prefer Quentin Johnston.

[Jeff Bell]

Yeah, we're going to see how this and I'm really curious how this Mike McDaniel offense works out with these Chargers pieces because there's a lot of intriguing pieces for what is was prior to last season or so thought of one of the sharpest offensive minds in football. And so I think that that's really interesting to see. The things that got cracked Trey Harris into the rotation, got him on the field regularly were really his blocking and it's, it's like the Alan Lazard of it like being very, very good blocker and it's like do you really want to go with the wide receiver that's a very good blocker. I think this one's an interesting one because I kind of it was I saw some things on social media this past week or so about calling Quentin Johnston. Still calling Quentin Johnson a bust even though he was the wide receiver 27 last year. I mean it's, you see him on the field and the things that made him a first round pick are showing up on the field. He's huge and he' explosive and to me he's just more dynamic with the ball in his hands than Trey Harris. But it just seems just from what I observed and the responses to me, the consensus take seems to be well, Trey Harris is going to take Quentin Johnson's job because Quentin Johnston is a bust. But we're now two full seasons of Quentin Johnson being a pretty good football player and being a potential difference maker, dealing with some working through some injuries, whatnot. After that really, really strong start to last year, I think it's. You saw everything that you wanted to see early last season on Quentin Johnson on that breakout. Every checked every box is what you're looking for. Kind of disappeared as the season went on, but so did the Chargers offense in general. Especially losing those two offensive tackles out of that offense caused the downfield things that Quentin Johnston was excelling on early in the season to disappear out of the offense. I'm still going to go with Quentin Johnston here.

[Dave]

I'm back with Jeff Bell and we are talking about ambiguous wide receiver rooms. And Jeff, this is the first one we first have. We kind of talked about this one. Jalen Waddle is a Denver Bronco now and Cortland Sutton getting a little bit older, but he did emerge as the clear wide receiver one last year. We not emerge. I mean, we knew he would be, but there was a lot of questions about how he'd be used in Sean Payton's offense. We saw him like clearly delineate himself from the pack and then we saw Pat Bryant, Troy Franklin and some other guys getting involved. But a huge move to go out and bring in Jalen Waddle. Now to me, I see Jalen Waddle as very much so a move for the future, that it sets them up as Cortland Sutton's getting up there, 31 years in age. Now they have a guy that they can lean on beyond that. But looking at this season, 20, 26, how do we expect targets to be split up? Is there one guy that you're able to like, you know, say confidently that you prefer over the other,

[Jeff Bell]

whoever's cheapest? I, I don't know. That's kind of my go to, that's my go to cop out answer for things like this. But I think both of them are, are intriguing and interesting when it comes down to it. And when you look at, I mean, 104 targets that went to Troy Franklin last year, 76 to Evan Ingram last year you had 51 going to Marvin Mims and then 49 going to Pat Bryant. I mean, you can definitely see you kind of jumble those up and mix those around. There's certainly a wide receiver. 1 value overall work share available for Jalen Waddle, who is a bit of a chameleon, can kind of play into there. Whereas Cortland Sutton, you're probably potentially a little bit more limited on what he offers you. I could see easily Court and Sutton giving you the same line that he gave you last year. 74 receptions, 1000 yards and seven touchdowns. And Jalen Waddle emerging as the number one receiver in the offense and giving like the 1200, 1300 yard type of a season. And that really, if you add those random pieces together, that did see, I know for sure Troy Franklin had a stretch where he was very, very fantasy relevant. And then Pat Brian towards the end of the year came on pretty hot. And we've seen Marvin Mims have flashes. So I think that it's. You make the argument that they fit as a traditional wide receiver. 1 wide receiver 2. Archetype of what we're thinking about in fantasy football of those two receivers and their games play very, very well off of each other. I will say We've talked previously about the mock draft that we did. I thought the value on Cortland Sutton in that mock draft was really, really interesting.

[Dave]

Waddle went in round five and Sutton fell all the way to round seven. So yeah, I mean drafters clearly prefer Waddle. And I was sitting right there two picks before, just like drooling at the thought of getting Cortland Sutton in round seven. Jason Wood, a very sharp drafter, sniped me on him. But yeah, that's a great value there. So we, we've also, you know, I want to point out that we have seen Jalen Waddle. Whether he is the primary target or the secondary target, he has been good in fantasy football. Like he was playing second fiddle to Tyreek Hill and still giving us back end wide receiver one production. We also saw as a rookie when there was nobody else in Miami, he could gobble up a 30 target share and volume his way to wide receiver one production. So we talk about the versatility with Matthew Golden. I think there's a lot of versatility here with Waddle as well. He can play inside, outside, DP short. He can be the primary guy, he can be the secondary guy. So I just think that he's a talented player and sometimes it's just as simple as that. Like I do prefer Waddle to Sutton, but how far Sutton's been getting pushed down in value does make him a pretty alluring target.

[Jeff Bell]

Dave, I've been dying to know for a couple of days, how bad did you get sniped by. By Hutch's auto pick on Jameson Williams? Because that was brutal. Yeah, he was sitting right there and the auto pick grabbed him right before you. And I was like, that wouldn't probably

[Dave]

hurt a bit little.

[Jeff Bell]

A little bit.

[Dave]

I will say though, that was one of those. As I was sitting there, I had two guys in my queue, Jameson Williams and DJ Moore. And I would have been happy with both of them. Like, I think Jameson Williams is the more fun pick just because like, you know, he's fun. Like it's always fun watching a guy score 80 yard touchdowns. But DJ Moore, wide receiver one for Josh Allen, that's a pretty good consolation prize if you're missing out on Jameson Williams. But let's keep moving down the list here, Jeff. And this is a deeper cut. But you dynasty sickos out there, I know you want to know how we feel about this. Rashid Shahid from brought back to Seattle on a multi year contract. Torrey Horton really flashed last year. It kind of felt like that mid season Trade was necessitated by the Torrey Horton injury. But now with the contract extension really murky is the water because these guys do very much so play the same role. Like it's going to be the Jackson Smith Najigba show. But who is the guy out there that's going to stretch the field vertically occasionally catch those deep balls and score the touchdowns. And as much as I love Tori Horton, I can't ignore this contract extension that they gave Shaheed, which makes me think that he's probably the preferred guy of the two.

[Jeff Bell]

He, Shahid gives them just a lot more versatility, I think involvement of the ability to get the ball in his hands relative to Torrey Horton. I mean, some of you got to be honest, some of that contract that they gave Shahid is the special teams value that he offers. You think about that Ram season and really probably the key turning point of that, not the Ram season, well, the Ram season, but also the Seahawks season. The key turning point was that big comeback on, I think it was on a Thursday Night Football when that big comeback from Seattle when they were down by like 16, whatever it might have been in the second half and he had that punt return touchdown that really spurred that and led that come back on. I mean some of the value of Shahid is that he, but again he can be that deep receiver, he can also be the guy that they can get the ball in their hands on those screens, on the schemed up touches. Whereas Horton I think right now is certainly right now is more dedicated to being that vertical threat. And I think that as having Torrey Horton as that vertical threat opens up, having Shahid as that underneath receiver. And really Cooper cup came in there last year as kind of an extension of the coaching staff and really knew Clint Kubiak's team very, very well. To me, I see where you could make the argument Cooper cup really just kind of phasing out of this offense. Shahid becomes a lot of those routes that Cooper cup was running, plus the vertical element as well. I mean this really is the Jackson, Smith and Jigba offense. And we know we've tight ends that get involved. We see Elijah Arroyo potentially growing there, AJ Barner putting his stamp on the offense. It is the Smith and Jigba offense. But Shahid I think is easily the player that I would prefer over Torrey Horton, even though I think that they're definitely a ceiling. But Torry Horton might get the classic, better and best ball stamp.

[Dave]

And I also think, you know, Tori Horton, we talked about it like if you're looking at talent, film, stats, analytics alone. Tori Horton should have been a day two pick, but those medical concerns are what pushed him way down deep into day three. And then when you already have a medical concern flag on your profile and then your season ends halfway through to a season ending injury. Now we're getting reports that he's not going to be ready for any spring OTAs. They're hopeful that he's going to be back in training camp. This to me just kind of corroborates the concerns that we had about his medicals to begin with. So still like Tori Horton, you know, if the price is right, I will stash him away on my dynasty teams. But the moves for Rashid Shahid kind of tell me how they feel about his long term outlook. Jeff, another one we want to talk about and this is more than just like the two guys that I'm going to mention here, but we got to talk about the Patriots pass catchers a little bit. Romeo Dubs and Kshon Booty is kind of how we're setting up this discussion. But there are other guys there as well. This to me like it just feels like the classic Patriots offense, that ball is going to get spread to everybody. We're going to see Mac Collins, Demario Douglas, Kyle Williams, maybe some Fton Kism here and there, maybe whatever rookie they draft. I, I want to get excited about Romeo Dubs, but I also just worry that you know, the Bill Belichick is still his, his spirit is in the building with Josh McDaniels and Mike Frable running this team and we're just never really going to see that featured wide receiver one.

[Jeff Bell]

Yeah, well and if it is going to be that featured wide receiver one, it's going to be like the Julian Edelman. But part of me wonders, you know, well A.J. brown too. Yeah, well the A.J. brown of it all. But is it Julian Edelman role even existed in modern NFL offense? The way that these teams are structured around multiple tight end looks and relying on those outside receivers. But yeah, it's I, I mean I would have to imagine we have some ADP out there already. I have to imagine Romeo Dubs is comfortably going ahead of Kishan Butte. This, this I'd rather have Boudet at value between him and Dubs. I just, I, I think Dubs is a good football player. I think he's. Dubs is a good football player. I just don't see profiling Romeo Dubs as being the number one receiver for the Patriots feels like a massive stretch to me. That Being said, Romeo Dubs the only player in the NFL that the goal line slant works to so that that would probably come into play. Also.

[Dave]

I looked it up this morning because they were weird. They kind of like hid the contract details. Like, you know, so often it's like, oh, this is the player, this is what they signed. And Romeo Dubs, like they just said like four years, $80 million, like more details to come. And then the details never really came. So I, I searched for him this morning. It's a two year, 39 million dollar contract. Like he is not getting this massive wide receiver one contract like people had hoped for. They very strategically set this up. I mean, two years, $39 million. That's about what you'd expect wide receiver too to be getting in today's NFL. So you know, the hopes that Romeo Dubs was getting this mega contract to be the guy for the next half decade for Romeo or for Drake May. I don't know if there's a lot of truth to that. So I'm with you as well, especially when looking at cost. Keisha Booty is just a much more alluring guy to go after. Last one. We're going to talk about Jeff and another deep cut here. I think the expectation, and we've talked about this a few times, but I think the expectation was that the Raiders for getting that pick from Baltimore and that they would use that pick on a wide receiver when Baltimore backed out of that trade. Now they are kind of stuck. Like they missed out on Alec Pierce and Wandale Robinson and Romeo Dubs. They're going into the season with Brock Bowers as the top pass catcher and behind him it's Jack Besh, Trey Tucker, Dante Thornton. They could theoretically spend a day two pick on a wide receiver that could make a splash. But I think right now we've got to look at these veterans that are there and is there anybody particular that might pique your interest in this Raiders wide receiver room?

[Jeff Bell]

Kayla Naylor, maybe. But I, I think it's, I mean, Brock Bowers, to me, I think if you were to look at you break this down, you've got Trey Tucker as kind of the dollar general version of Torrey Horton in the Clint Kubiak scheme and Jack Besh is the dollar general version of Cooper cup in that scheme. And then you've got Brock Bowers as the tight end version of Jackson Smith and Jigba in that scheme is kind of where I think that I land when it comes down to it. And I the free agency instant reaction that we do for football guys. For Jalen Naylor. Digging into Jalen Naylor, the he he was from Las Vegas, resigns with Las Vegas. But really the comfort level, I think in the scheme that Clint Kuyev is going to run is where Jalen Naylor off. Naylor offers the value and to go out and target him in free agency relative to all the other options. And you bring up the re undoing of the Max Crosby trade. But they still had $20 million to give Kirk Cousins, so they certainly had enough money to be on those.

[Dave]

They're only paying him 11 million. Just, you know, the, the Falcons are eating a lot of that money. But yes, I mean, I can already hear Chris Harris listening to the show just saying the salary cap is a myth. None of this matters.

[Jeff Bell]

If Chris Harris is listening 30 minutes into this show, then I love you, Chris. No, it's. No, I, I think it's. Yeah, I just, I don't know. Neither of these players really inspire it for me and. But I do think that you can. And it's easy to see the college teammates of either Omar Cooper or Isaiah. Isaiah Elijah Surat sitting there to add with Fernando Mendoza. But I mean, it's really. Brock Bowers is what I want here.

[Dave]

Yeah. And I think what's going to end up happening is that they've got this pick, 36. They're going to use that on a. A Casey Concepcion, a Denzel Boston, a Chris Brazel, the best available receiver at 36. And I think that's the guy everybody's gonna be excited about because right now, looking past Brock Bowers, this is just not a pass catching room you can get very excited about. But anyway, Jeff, we spent the last two weeks talking about ambiguous running back rooms and ambiguous wide receiver rooms, and all of this conversation and discussion gets thrown out the window in a couple weeks after the NFL draft. So be sure to stick around here. YouTube podcast, wherever you're listening to it, we've got a lot of NFL draft content coming your way. As soon as the NFL draft ends and we turn that page to the official 2026 season, that's when we can really start having some fun. We'll be doing our divisional breakdowns and a lot more fun things planned, so be sure to stick around. And as always, thank you so much for taking the time to tune in. We couldn't do this without you. See you soon.